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Biofuels
News

Biodiesel
Fuel facts

What
is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is the name of a clean
burning alternative fuel, produced from
domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel
contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at
any level with petroleum diesel to create a
biodiesel blend. It can be used in
compression-ignition (diesel) engines with
little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple
to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially
free of sulfur and aromatics.

How is biodiesel made?

Biodiesel is made through a chemical
process called transesterification whereby
the glycerin is separated from the fat or
vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two
products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for
biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct
usually sold to be used in soaps and other
products).

What is biomass?

Biomass
is generally made up of woody plant residue and
complex starches. The largest percentage of
biomass used to create energy is wood, but other
bioproducts, such as fast-growing switchgrass,
are being investigated as sources of energy. The
three largest sources of biomass used for fuel
are cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.
Biomass processing results in the end-products
biochemicals, biofuels, and biopower, all of
which can be used as fuel sources. Biochemicals
involve converting biomass into chemicals to
produce electricity; biofuels are biomass
converted into liquids for transportation; and
biopower is made by either burning biomass
directly (as with a wood-burning stove) or
converting it into a gaseous fuel to generate
electric power. Currently, production of
electricity from biomass constitutes 3.3 percent
of the United States' energy
supply.

What is ethanol?

Ethanol, also called grain alcohol
or ethyl alcohol, can be made from any starch-
or sugar-based feedstock. Corn is the most
common feedstock used in the United States,
whereas sugar cane is the preferred feedstock in
Latin America. The energy content of ethanol is
approximately two-thirds that of gasoline by
volume. For that reason, and because of its
higher cost, ethanol is typically used as a
gasoline additive.

How is ethanol produced?

There
are two different methods for producing ethanol,
both based on breaking down plant matter into
simple sugars and starches and then fermenting
them to produce alcohol. Ethanol is primarily
made through a distilled ethanol process whereby
the sugars and starches from the feedstock are
boiled and concentrated into grain alcohol
(basically "moonshine," although ethanol is
denatured to prevent the fuel from being
consumed). The process can also use microbe
fermentation (with a byproduct of CO2) or a
wet-milling procedure that also yields
high-fructose corn sweetener. The fermentation
process can easily break down simple sugars in
the fruits or edible portions of plants;
examples of commonly-used feedstocks include
corn kernels, sugar cane, milo, cheese whey, and
potato waste. New technologies are emerging that
can break down the more complex sugars that
compose other parts of plants, such as the
fibrous stalks, husks, grasses, and wood.
Converting these sources of cellulosic and
hemicellulosic biomass into ethanol opens up a
new avenue for fuel supplies, since this waste
biomass is readily available and renewable in
large quantities. What are essentially
agricultural wastes will soon commonly be
converted into a usable energy
source.